What is the connection between fractals and Brownian motion?

In summary, Fractional Brownian motion is a type of fractal that was proposed by Mandelbrot to explain problems of scale in the real world. It is different from regular Brownian motion in that its increments are dependent, which means that if there is an increasing pattern in the previous "steps," it is likely to continue in the current step.
  • #1
jimbo007
41
2
hey there,
i'm curious as to why they call it fractional Brownian motion. please don't say its Brownian motion that is fractional :-p

many thanks
 
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  • #3
jimbo007 said:
hey there,
i'm curious as to why they call it fractional Brownian motion. please don't say its Brownian motion that is fractional :-p

many thanks

Okay, then, I'll just ask "why do the call what fractional Brownian motion?"!
 
  • #4
why do they call fractional Brownian motion, fractional Brownian motion?
 
  • #5
jimbo007 said:
why do they call fractional Brownian motion, fractional Brownian motion?
Here you go -- from the last hit on the first page of the search that I posted:

from http://www.doc.ic.ac.uk/~nd/surprise_95/journal/vol4/ykl/report.html
Mandelbrot proposed the idea of a fractal (short for "fractional dimension") as a way to cope with problems of scale in the real world. He defined a fractal to be any curve or surface that is independent of scale. This property, referred to as self-similarity, means that any portion of the curve, if blown up in scale, would appear identical to the whole curve.

And from the first hit on the search page:
http://davis.wpi.edu/~matt/courses/fractals/brownian.html
The main difference between fBm and regular Brownian motion is that while the increments in Brownian Motion are independent they are dependent in fBm. This dependence means that if there is an increasing pattern in the previous "steps," then it is likely that the current step will be increasing as well.

So it looks like it could be called fractal Bronian motion instead of fractional Brownian motion...
 

Related to What is the connection between fractals and Brownian motion?

1. What is Fractional Brownian motion?

Fractional Brownian motion (FBM) is a type of stochastic process that is used to model the behavior of random systems. It is a generalization of the traditional Brownian motion, which is a random walk process with independent and identically distributed increments. FBM allows for the correlation of increments, meaning that each step is not completely independent from the previous ones. This makes FBM a more realistic model for many real-world phenomena.

2. How is Fractional Brownian motion different from traditional Brownian motion?

The main difference between FBM and traditional Brownian motion is the correlation of increments. In traditional Brownian motion, each step is completely independent from the previous ones, whereas in FBM, there is a positive correlation between increments. This means that FBM is more likely to exhibit long-range dependence, while traditional Brownian motion does not.

3. What are the applications of Fractional Brownian motion?

FBM has various applications in different fields, including finance, geology, physics, and signal processing. In finance, FBM is used to model stock prices and financial returns. In geology, it is used to model the spatial distribution of natural resources. In physics, FBM is used to study the behavior of fluids and polymers. In signal processing, it is used to analyze and filter time-series data.

4. How is Fractional Brownian motion simulated?

FBM can be simulated using different methods, such as the Davies-Harte algorithm, the Cholesky decomposition method, or the Hosking method. These methods involve generating a sequence of correlated random variables with a specific covariance structure. The simulated FBM can then be used to generate sample paths that exhibit the desired properties, such as long-range dependence and self-similarity.

5. What is the Hurst exponent in Fractional Brownian motion?

The Hurst exponent is a parameter that characterizes the behavior of FBM. It is used to measure the degree of long-range dependence in the process. A Hurst exponent of 0.5 corresponds to traditional Brownian motion, while values greater than 0.5 indicate positive correlation and values less than 0.5 indicate negative correlation. The Hurst exponent is a crucial parameter in the simulation and analysis of FBM, and it can also provide insights into the underlying dynamics of the system being modeled.

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